Watch: Bencic Buzzed By Comeback

Practice makes perfect.Belinda Bencic is playing her way back into form mixing match play with practice in Dubai.Watch: Lindt Extends Federer's Endorsement PactThe 20-year-old Swiss, who underwent left wrist surgery, battled a variety of injuries this season that knocked her off the tour for five months earlier this year.Injury-induced inactivity caused the former world No. 7’s ranking to fall to No. 228, but Bencic is back on the winning track.Last month, Bencic won back-to-back $125,000 titles in Hua Hin and Taipei.

One more 🏆😊#3 #wtataipei125k @oecopen
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Nov 21, 2017 at 3:21pm PST

Bencic, who carried a 10-match winning streak into this week's ITF Challenger in Dubai, has improved her ranking to No. 98, which means she gains direct entry into the Australian Open next month.“Obviously, I’m just enjoying to play again and I haven’t expected to play that many matches” Bencic told Tennis 360 in the video interview above. “But I’m super happy I’m getting the confidence back, the matches back and the rhythm back. So I hope I can continue here like that. We’ll see.”Playing a tournament for the first time during the offseason taught the Swiss a lesson: Daily practice can be tougher than match play.“I actually think that practicing every day is more harder than matches,” Bencic told Tennis 360 with a smile. “But I had some rest after the two weeks in Asia. I came here refreshed and I’m actually doing this tournament as a part of the preparation. So I’m actually practicing more than I usually do during the tournament so I use this as a practice and then I’ll be ready for Australia.”

Bencic, who was once coached by Martina Hingis, had been coached by her father, Ivan, in recent years. In July, she hired Iain Hughes as coach and said she's been enjoying a productive partnership."It’s great and I’m very happy we’re working great together, I think," Bencic said. "It’s definitely showing. My father was here too, he’s still supporting me and watching every match but he’s more traveling with my brother (Brian) now."
Photo credit: Upper Austria Ladies Linz Facebook ]]>